Archive for month: September, 2015

Ultimately we’re looking for a 2 rep back squat, but to get there, we want to get at least a heavy set of 5 and a heavy set of 3. You can think of this as going for close to a 5RM, then a 3RM, then a 2RM. (not actual maxes, but close)

Strength is a complex – power cleans are caught above parallel in a quarter squat, then either stand up and set for a push press or go directly into it. Same for the jerk – you may receive the push press and go directly into the jerk or completely reset. Jerks can be power or split.
Scale the HSPU’s with pike box HSPU’s, wall walks, or stink bugs.

Nate was an athletic kid growing up. He played soccer, hockey, basketball, and baseball. Then high school hit, the sports stopped and the weight settled in. Senior year of high school, Nate couldn’t hit 1 pull up nor could he stand to look at the scale. He forced himself to go to the gym, but after 5 years of a globo gym he needed something more. After an intro session with Coach Vinny of tire flips, push-ups, and a row Nate was hooked to Crossfit Thermal.

Being a part of such a great community has helped Nate in and out of the gym. From completing Murph as prescribed, the hardest task Nate says he has ever faced, and coming back from Lyme Disease, which sent Nate to the hospital, the cheering, the friends, and the genuine feeling of everyone wanting to see not only him, but EVERYONE succeed keeps me pushing harder. Having seen the changes in his physique, mental fortitude, and overall wellbeing Nate can’t envision a life without his Thermal family.

Two of Nate’s fondest memories at Thermal so far are during the 2015 Crossfit Open when he hit 3 Muscle-Ups to tie Sizzle, and Coach P’s face during the last stretch of Murph when he was yelling “Catch me Nate! Catch me!” and Nate found more energy to chase him down. Coach P’s face will forever be instilled in his mind.

Thank you Vinny, Sarah, Sam, P, Molly, Aileen, and everyone for pushing me to where I am now when just over a month ago I feared I would never be able to do all of this again!

Take 20-25 minutes to build up and find a 1RM Power Snatch. Remember, this is a power snatch, not a muscle snatch, you should still be pulling under the bar on the third pull. Most people should be just above parallel when receiving a heavy power snatch. For conditioning, we’ve got some mid-line work, tabata style. Throughout the tabata, you’ll alternate toes to bar and hollow rocks.

:20 of T2B, :10 seconds off :20 seconds of hollow rocks, :10 seconds rest. Your score will be your total number of T2B. As a scale consider V-ups and plank holds.

Over the past week I’ve received a ton of emails and posts about goals for the Fall Nutrition challenge. Most of the goals were about fat and overall weight loss, but some folks want to gain size and muscle during the challenge. There are a couple things to think about if you’re in the “gain” camp. At Thermal we do a great job of integrating our strength training into our CrossFit classes, but sometimes its a good idea to consider adding a strength session or two if overall size and raw strength are your goals. We are fortunate to have a dedicated space on site for such training with the “Forge”

The health benefits of Paleo can’t be understated. By limiting carbohydrate consumption we keep our insulin levels at a healthy threshold and are able to maintain lean body mass. The problem for some people looking to gain weight and size is that the reduction in carbs makes it tough to gain. People get on Paleo and suddenly think that all carbs are evil. If you’re looking to gain weight and strength, carbs play a big role especially in your post workout meal. A simple concept illustrating the different ways Paleo can be utilized for varying goals can be understood by considering the post workout meal. Someone looking to gain size and strength, might go for 6-8oz of chicken breast, a whole sweet potato and an avocado. The person trying to lose weight might do the same except swap out the sweet potato for a salad of mixed greens or sauteed peppers and onions.

I wanted to lay out some examples and helpful tips for those trying to gain on Paleo. Here is some of the stuff I came up with after a brief search of some familiar and reliable sources.

B
Squat 5×5
Deadlift 1/2/3×5 (your choice; deadlifts can be incredibly taxing, and with exhaustion comes poor form, so be careful; sometimes it’s better to do a really heavy load for a single set)
Bench Press 5×5

In this team workout, you will alternate for each segment. The exact order will be the following:
Athlete A – run 200m , Athlete B – run 200m , Athlete A – 42 wall balls ,Athlete B – 42 wall balls and so on and so forth….
TIME!

Athletes may use different size equipment if needed. They must go in this order and finish each segment before moving onto the next.

In teams of 2:
Run 2x200m
then
42-30-18
Wall balls, 20/14#
KB swings, 53/35#
then
Run 2x200m

If the Pope had a benchmark workout named after him, it would be this. A sandwich format, You’ll go through these movements one at a time and complete them before moving onto the next. Barbell should come from the ground – if you’re limited by your clean and press overhead to your back, then lower the weight. Box jumps should be relatively high compared to typical workouts. For HSPU’s, scale to wall walks, stink bugs, or inverted pike position with feet on a box. Most athletes should do double unders, but you may need to scale to 50.

The deadlift can leave you sore for a few days without a proper warm up, so make sure your body is warm and trunk is primed to move weight. We’re looking for a heavy 5 rep or go for a max if you’re feeling it. Take your time between reps – you should want to rest a good 5 minutes once you get into your heavy sets. As an accessory piece, do 3 untimed sets of V-ups where you’re struggling to complete the last few reps of each set.

Most of you guys know Maggie, she is a new member and intern at CrossFit Thermal. Maggie is a weightlifter, a CrossFitter, and also played softball throughout college. She currently is a speed and agility coach and is starting to bring her talent to CrossFit Thermal. One of the things we’ve been striving for at Thermal has been a bigger focus on movement and mobility, this Saturday Maggie will be hosting a free mobility session as part of the 9am class! Just like every Saturday, we’ll run a team style workout, but we’ll finish up with about 15-20 minutes of dedicated mobility time. So if you plan to come to the 9am session, you’ll also get a nice bonus mobility session. See you there!